fek47

I've had a 1.4 SE now for 2.5 years, now done 40,000 miles. And its terribly unreliable.

First, the whole aircon system packed in within the first 6 months. Then, the engine cooling system packed in last summer. And just now the engine management system has gone wrong and had to be replaced.

In addition, there is this constant, horrible rattling coming from the boot. I have taken it in on no fewer than 3 occasions to 3 different dealerships, and it has never been fixed.

Speaking of dealerships, why are the staff in the service/repair departments always so rude? They are rude to me - perhaps understandably as I'm sure they cant really be bothered with A2 owners, few in number as they are. However, my parents are also both Audi drivers - A6 and A4 respectively - and they are also treated dismissively and rudely.

And servicing too. I have paid £600 in total for the first 2 services. It is outrageous. BMW offer a package costing £500 for the fist 3 services (on their 1 series). Wake up Audi!!!

I can't wait to get rid of my A2. I'm getting shot of it the day of its 3rd birthday. Wouldn't dare risk keeping it on and having not only to deal with incompetant, arrogant Audi staff, but also having to pay for the privilege as well!

-FK

The DJP

Btw I've always owned Audi's and never had any serious troubles.
And our A2 is doing great so far!

fek47

I am not sure. I like the look of the new 1-series (though I realise many don't). The soon to arrive A-class Merc also looks promising - a great improvement over the current a-class.

In re: what you say about Audi's reliability. My parents have both had Audis for more than 20 years now. They remained loyal to Audi in large part due to their reliability. However, my dad moved to Saab after having a terrible A6, which failed to start on a number of occasions, and now my mum is planning to move away too after her A4 has had numerous problems - some minor, some major.

However, more annoyingly than the breakdowns themselves has been (as I mentioned earlier) the consistent rudeness of dealership staff.

Everybody knows the car dealers are out to cheat you at every possible stage, and will go to almost any lengths to avoid doing warranty work. However, the extent of the rudeness that my mum recently experienced after the turbo on her A4 packed in led her to sent a complain to Audi HQ in Ingolstadt, as well as swearing to move her whole company fleet away from Audi.

I get treated rudely myself - probably due in part to my age (20), and partly to do with owning a mere A2 rather than A8 or whatever. But still, it has been enough for Audi to loose my business for a very long time.

The DJP

Lexus won the "Autoweek Best Dealerships" award here in the Netherlands.
If I had to choose, I would pick the BMW 1 series, a real drivers car.
And you will get used to the design.

ScottishS4 feat. A3

I use Camerons in Perth, Scotland. They are a great group of guys there, good service and great people. My A2 has had its ups and downs, but on the whole it has been reliably over the 20,000 miles I have put on it in the last year...had a bad O2 sensor and a bad gyro sensor, that is it.

BlackMilk

That sucks